Breathe BioMedical Expands Breast Cancer Study to Nova Scotia

Breathe BioMedical, a company developing a breath analytics platform for early disease detection, has expanded its multi-center clinical study to include Nova Scotia, marking a significant step in its mission to advance breast cancer detection methods.

The study, now co-led by Dr. Gregory Knapp and Dr. Zina Kellow at the Breast Health Research Unit (BHRU) at IWK Health in Halifax, Nova Scotia, aims to collect breath samples from participants to identify disease-specific patterns that can aid in the early detection of breast cancer, particularly in women with dense breast tissue.

IWK Health's participation in the study extends beyond the United States and New Brunswick, adding a larger Canadian patient population. This broader geographic and demographic representation strengthens the robustness of the machine learning algorithm Breathe BioMedical is developing.

Preliminary analysis of Breathe BioMedical's breast cancer proof-of-concept study, conducted in Saint John, New Brunswick, found an 88.2% accuracy rate in differentiating between the breath signatures of women with early-stage breast cancer and those without breast cancer, irrespective of breast density. The current study aims to compare the breath profiles of women from a diverse patient population across a range of demographics and geographic areas to further develop the company's technology.

Breath samples contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are byproducts of metabolism and can provide insights into an individual's health. Breathe BioMedical's proprietary Breath Sampler collects alveolar breath stored on industry-standard sorbent tubes, which are then transported to the company's central laboratory for analysis using its Spectrometer. The machine learning algorithms applied to the spectrographic data set identify disease-specific patterns associated with breast cancer.

Mammography remains the current gold standard for breast cancer screening in Nova Scotia for the average risk population. However, the interpretation of a mammogram is challenged by reduced visibility with dense breast tissue, as both cancer and dense breast tissue appear white on a mammogram. The research into additional approaches that may one day supplement current screening recommendations, using Canadian-generated data, may allow for more options for enhanced screening in the future.

The expansion of the clinical study with new partners, including IWK Health, is accelerating the collection of reliable data to advance Breathe BioMedical's technology. The company's ultimate goal is to increase the detection of breast cancer identified at its earliest stages, particularly in women with dense breast tissue.